Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin narrowly edged his two competitors and snatched the Republican nomination to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in November.
But now his real challenge begins.

Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin will be the Republican nominee to take on U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, as Republican Gary Kiehne, who was trailing Tobin by 324 votes with thousands of ballots left to count, conceded the race this afternoon.

The three-way Republican primary in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District is still too close to call, as Arizona House speaker Andy Tobin and rancher Gary Kiehne are locked in a near tie, and neither is conceding the race.
As of Thursday morning, Tobin was holding a lead of 469 votes.

When Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin entered the race for Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, the Republican establishment breathed a collective sigh of relief.
They finally had a strong candidate who could take on one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Congress, Ann Kirkpatrick, in November.

Dr. Katherine Mitchell knew she was “shooting my career in the foot” when she raised concerns about the quality of care that the Department of Veterans Affairs was providing patients at its Phoenix hospital.
She doesn’t regret it, she said Tuesday, because she could not stand to see another veteran die.